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Sleestak, Book of Hours: Two Lone Wolfs, Five Million Years and Seven Sorrows

Posted in Reviews on September 13th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Recorded in Spring 2013 at the same Bobby Peru’s Recording Studio as their 2011 The Fall of Altrusia full-length (review here), by the same engineer, Shane Olivo, the new Book of Hours EP is nonetheless a stylistic shift in course from Milwaukee-based prog-doomers Sleestak. Where that album moved in a rich variety of atmospheres around a central core of crunching riffs and heavy vocalizations, Book of Hours seems to be working directly to contrast any expectation they might do the same this time out. Now a trio, Sleestak has previously delighted in proffering the unexpected, as their interim 2012 outing, Altrusian Moon: A Lo-Fi Collection of Psychdelia and Space Rock, showed, so their affinity for shaking up their approach isn’t much of a surprise so long as you’ve been paying attention. Still, to go from The Fall of Altrusia, as progressive as it was, to Book of Hours is a leap, made spiritedly on the band’s part toward even more progressive territory, culling influence from heavy psychedelic rock and meshing it with their own conceptualism and theatricality. They are, as they were on the album, self-indulgent, as the jazz piano tossed into the ending of “Lone Wolf” and “Lone Wolf (Patriot Version),” can attest, but in context, that self-indulgence also provides some of the most effective moments of the 23-minute EP. If you have to take it with a grain of salt, at very least the music is of a quality that makes both it and the salt easier to take. And not all tonal weight is forgotten either. While they may not hit into the same kind of plodding riffery that drove “Chapter 3 – The Prophecy of the Great Sleep” from The Fall of Altrusia, a cut like “Five Million Years to Earth” doesn’t lack for heft in the slightest. The main difference between the two releases is what Sleestak does with that heft, how they make it move and contort it to their purposes, which here seem more geared toward classic heavy rock riffing and tapping into the ’70s roots of some of the influences they showed on the last full-length — more krautrock and less Opeth, if you will.

As noted, “Lone Wolf” appears twice, in regular and “Patriot” versions. The difference between them is the vocals of guitarist Matt Schmitz, who also handles the not insignificant amount of keys throughout. Where “Lone Wolf” works with a kind of far-back spoken word feel amid the psychedelic exploration that, again, turns to jazzy instrumental wanderings, “Lone Wolf (Patriot Version)” takes on a fuller croon to close out Book of Hours on a more sociopolitical lyrical bent. That approach from Schmitz can be heard on the riff rocking “Seven Sorrows” and “Five Million Years to Earth” as well, and it fits with the organ-inclusive, engaging grooves held in check by bassist Dan Bell and drummer Marcus Bartell. It seems to be Schmitz leading the charge, though, and while opener “Appeasing the Gods (Intro)” starts out with doomly riffing that feels like it could’ve come just as likely from Cathedral as Penance, it’s precise and given depth thanks to vague sampling layered in the mix and synth. A riff to begin. Fair enough. “Seven Sorrows” follows with a faster pulse and and the guitar and vocals out front but still in balance with the bass and drums. A stop following the chorus leads back into the verse with a dead stop and single snare hit that, by the time they do it the fourth time to end the song, is like a game it’s fun to play along with, though at that point you’re the only one doing the tapping. Between, there’s a midsection break with some organ-ized doom that reminds in its bounce of something Beelzefuzz might concoct, but Sleestak snap back into the verse an chorus, skillfully keeping hold of a structure that seemed ready to run away with the ending of the track. That they do so is all the more effective, particularly on this brief sampling, since that’s more or less what happens in (both) “Lone Wolf” — making it that seem much more of a choice to jam out rather than like they got lost after the bridge — something Sleestak have already shown they’re more than capable enough songwriters to avoid.

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Sleestak Update on Gigs and Merch

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 21st, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Milwaukee progressive doomers Sleestak returned this year with the impressive new EP, Book of Hours (review pending), building on the wide-ranging melodic sensibilities the four-piece showcased on 2011’s Fall of Altrusia debut full-length (review here). As Sleestak continue to support Book of Hours, the band has announced a couple regional shows for the fall and some new merch on the way as well.

They sent this update down the PR wire:

We wanted to spread the word on a couple shows just announced along with some other bits of info.

SHIRTS! Last chance to get your pre-order in for the new “Moon” shirt. If you don’t, they will only be available in limited sizes and numbers at Sleestak shows. Visit http://sleestakmusic.blogspot.com/p/tshirt-preorder.html to get yours now. We should have them in hand in the next week or so…

SHOWS! Lastly, come on out and hang with Sleestak at these killer shows if you can!

8/24/13 – Sleestak w/Truckfighters, Scientist, Jap Herron
at Reggies Rock Club, 2105 s. State St., Chicago, IL.
This is an 17 and over show.

10/4/13 – Sleestak w/Vega, TBA
at The Cactus Club, 2496 s. Wentworth Ave, Milwaukee, WI.

We will have a few copies left of both the Book Of Hours and Fall Of Altrusia cds if you haven’t grabbed one yet.

Make sure you visit us at http://sleestakmusic.com/
and https://www.facebook.com/sleestakofficial
and http://sleestak.bandcamp.com/

Sleestak, Book of Hours EP (2013)

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